It’s no secret that global warming is making natural disasters both more common and more severe. But neither the US government nor many residents seem to be taking the changing climate into account when it comes to housing.

This perception of risk is at the core of Soaking the Middle Class. In their study, sociologists Max Besbris and Anna Rhodes investigated the effects of Hurricane Harvey on the Houston suburb of Friendswood, where many people’s homes were significantly damaged. Almost nobody there thought they were at significant risk, and even after experiencing devastating flooding, most people decided to return to their homes.

But some residents had an easier time than others. Besbris and Rhodes found that many households struggled to access federal funds to rebuild their homes, and that often those who had more success in doing so were already better off to begin with. Some in this latter group were able to remodel their houses after Harvey to the degree they even came out ahead financially, while other Friendswood residents struggled to make their houses safe to inhabit. The aftermath of Harvey didn’t simply reflect pre-existing inequality, it actually drove inequality further.